ATP: Stan Wawrinka must recover his muscle mass

Stan Wawrinka’s semi-final entry into the Australian Open in 2017 started well for Stan Wawrinka. The convalescent Swiss also wants to make his comeback there.

For Stan Wawrinka, Melbourne is the place where the meanwhile three-time Major Winner celebrated his first big success: the Australian Open title. Just under four years ago, Wawrinka eliminated Novak Djokovic in an epic match in the course of the tournament and celebrated one of his rare victories against Rafael Nadal in the final.

And in Melbourne, there should also be a comeback of “Stan the Man” at the latest, at least this is the plan that the Swiss reaffirmed in an interview with the Tagesanzeiger. However, this won’t be easy, as Wawrinka hasn’t played a match since the Wimbledon tournament and had to be operated on his knee.

“There is still a lot of work to be done,”said the 2014 Davis Cup champion,”both physically and in terms of specific tennis training. But I am on the right track. My goal is to play at the Australian Open,” Wawrinka left it open whether he will return to the court for one or more show fights. This depends on the further course of his healing.

He had lost almost all of his muscle mass after his operation, the man Boris Becker once said was the best trained European tennis player. It was only thanks to the work with fitness guru Pierre Paganini that he was able to slowly move back to his usual fighting level.

Like Novak Djokovic, however, Stan Wawrinka can also take advantage of the injury break:”I recovered from the physical and mental effects of the last few years. I could breathe deeply and feel fresh again to attack again in the coming years.”

Of course, this can only mean to play the big titles again. 2017 was a good time for this project, Wawrinka did not leave the Australian Open until the semi-final against Roger Federer, in Paris Rafael Nadal proved to be too strong in the final. Whoever will accompany him on this journey after Magnus Norman’s departure as coach is still open to Stan Wawrinka:”I am open in the choice of coach. I’m just looking for someone who can give me new input in training.”